5-Year-Old Sends Peppa Pig on Vacation with Grandpa—What Happens Next is Pure Sweetness

It's only March, but one Grandpa has already made a case for "Grandfather of the Year" honors.

Kids often wish they could stuff themselves into their grandparent's suitcases and travel with them. Lisette, a 5-year-old from Sacramento, recently hid her Peppa Pig in her grandfather, David Zielke's suitcase. It was right before Zielke jetted off for an enviable 10-day getaway in Cabo San Lucas, a Mexican resort city. The result? A series of viral TikToks featuring the wholesome content we need right now.

Zielke noticed Lisette's four figurines in his suitcase and brought them along for the ride—literally. Zielke had the toys, inspired by the popular British animated series, join him on his jet-setting adventure. Lisette's Aunt Tanya (Zielke's daughter) caught wind of the fact that Peppa & Co. were living it up in Mexico and let TikTok in on the secret.

"You guys wanna see the sweetest thing?" Tanya said in a voiceover for a TikTok video posted last week. "My niece took her favorite toys and packed them into my dad's luggage. He has been making this story of all their adventures together for her. He's going to play it when he gets back."

The videos give me major FOMO. Gramps took the figurines swimming, had them sunbathe, and eat like total royalty at a white tablecloth resort restaurant.

Eventually, little Lisette got to see all the adventures in a creatively edited, multi-part six-minute video posted on YouTube. Lisette watched her figurines chill by the pool, join Gramps for a drink at the bar with a side of Pacific Ocean vistas, go whale watching, and return home. Of course, Aunt Tanya had a camera in hand to document her predictably sweet reaction. During the video, you see Lisette and her little brother sitting with Zielke.

If you're watching, grab tissues for the closing minute. "You were in my heart the whole time we were gone," David said in a voiceover. "Thanks to your little toys. Hopefully, you enjoyed this video. This is a souvenir for you that you'll be able to look back on, maybe long after I'm gone. It's just a little sign of love that I have for you and your little brother."

Everyone cheered—and they must've cut onions we could all smell through the screen because we were all crying. The video has been seen nearly 20K times on YouTube, and the commenters are loving it.

• "Wow! This was so cute. I smiled so much! What a memory she will have watching this over the years! I hope Peppa Pig's people see this," writes one YouTuber.
• "Aw. He added animations with his narration best grandfather ever! This is so sweet. On the next vacation, she can go with Peppa and her family," writes another.
• "As someone who didn't get enough time with their grandparents, this made me shed a tear. We never get enough time with amazing family like this, and this video is a perfect gift to watch now as a kid and look back on as an adult. His heart is golden," someone else says.

If you're like me and spend a decent amount of time in parenting groups on social media, you know many are fraught with hot takes on grandparents (particularly of the in-law variety). And, hey, the feelings behind them are sometimes valid. Parenting styles have changed over the years as we learn and try to do better, hopefully healing generational wounds in the process. Some grandparents may mean well, but even research shows older generations may need to learn about new guidelines—like placing a baby on their back to sleep—as well as societal shifts.

Still, as this video shows, there is something golden about the beautiful relationships grandparents can forge with their grandchildren. If your children are lucky enough to have loving and supportive grandparents (with or without Zielke's top-notch video editing skills), it can be incredibly valuable. The grandparent can serve as another person to dote on them, share memories, care for them, and simply love them.

Many grandparents serve as primary or secondary caregivers. About 7 million grandparents lived with at least one grandchild under 18 in 2020. Multi-generation households were on the rise even before the pandemic exacerbated a childcare crisis in the United States.

So, despite the steady stream of venting posts about grandparents you may see in parent groups, you're also not alone if you're leaning into them as part of your village.

I became a new mother during the early days of the pandemic and felt lost without my village. When I had my second child last year, my mother became a quasi-au pair, living with us three days per week to help out. Seeing her develop a relationship with my two sons, blowing bubbles or pulling them in a sled after a rare snowfall this year, has given me something to smile about as I plod along during the workday. Both of my kids have benefitted socially and developmentally—learning new songs and words and having new adventures (not in Mexico, but on weekdays at our local library).

We're lucky to have a tiny village. Little Lisette is, too.